2Day in HistoryToday is Wednesday, May 11, the 131st day of 2011. There are 234 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History: In 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the “Pentagon Papers” case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.

Ten years ago: A jury in Pittsburgh sentenced Richard Baumhammers to death for killing five people in a racially motivated shooting rampage. (Baumhammers is appealing his sentence.)Five years ago: Lawmakers demanded answers after a USA Today report that the National Security Agency was secretly collecting records of millions of ordinary Americans’ phone calls; President George W. Bush sought to assure Americans their civil liberties were being “fiercely protected.”

AP Odd NewsWho let the dog out?After three late-night escape attempts from an Oregon veterinarian’s office, a German shepherd named Jack finally made it.

The Medford Mail Tribune reports the crafty canine managed to pull open his kennel, trip the dead bolt on the clinic’s back door and pull down the handle to get outside.

He set off three motion-detector alarms on the way and managed to rip open four bags of food.

The dog roamed seven miles from the vet’s office, but only made it home when animal control officers took him to a shelter where he was reunited with his worried family.

A veterinarian calls the dog’s recovery from flulike symptoms “impressive.”

IPhone GPS aids in capture of car-theft suspect COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Police say an iPhone left in a stolen truck is how officers were able to capture a burglar suspected of multiple auto break-ins in Colorado Springs.

Officials at the El Paso County Sheriff’s office said 29-year-old Joshua Mitzelfelt allegedly stole a truck left unattended and running in a driveway Tuesday morning. The owner’s iPhone was on the front seat.

The truck’s owner began tracking his vehicle’s location though a website monitoring the phone’s GPS application while updating sheriff dispatchers. Officers spotted the truck about seven miles from the owner’s residence, and arrested the driver.

Police were able to link items found in the vehicle to other burglaries in the area. Mitzelfelt has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, second degree aggravated motor vehicle theft and first degree burglary.